Relapse
by TrueVizion
Summary: Gary's peculiar past begins to haunt him. Yet "only in the darkness can you see the stars" (-Martin Luther King jr.) Oldrival/Leafgreen shipping
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

 _(December 17th, Outskirts of Snowpoint City, Uncharted Base)_

It was blistering cold outside here in the Snowpoint area. For 5 consecutive days a snowstorm has harassed the town. Now, currently, I've been staying in this little cabin on the outskirts for a week. Now, you may be asking yourself, why are you living like this? Well, truth be told I'm an investigator for the league. The league is the government created to unify the region after the great war ended two years prior. The war actually ties in nicely to why I'm here exactly. Well, get this, there's this group of people that have been popping up lately that oppose the new government established last year. Early protests have now grown violent with several murders being linked to this group the past couple months. It doesn't make sense though. What started as a group of people peacefully protesting has lead into this bloody mess there's isn't a motive to be seen. Anyway, the league stationed me to this dump to start figuring out what's going on here which is pretty hard considering I've been snowed in most of the time.

I'm getting ahead of myself though, I should be telling you who I am and explain my story first. My name is Gary Oak, I'm 24 years old, and as I previously stated I'm an investigator for the league. Now, you may have heard of my grandfather, Samuel Oak. My grandfather was a college professor, until he took up politics. Joining the Kanto senate when I was 12, he served a 4 year term until he ran to be Chancellor of Kanto when I was 16, to which he would win. That's when things went bad though. With an uprising for a new government starting to form across all regions my grandfather could do nothing, but watch, as the great war fell upon us. What a war it was. To give a brief background there was an evil, despicable, power hungry man named Guevara. This man launched a campaign against all 7 regions, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Alola all simultaneously. Guevara exposed a weakness in Alola to gain power. With a corrupt Chancellor and public opinion at all time lows he used the emotions of the people to revolt and become a totalitarian leader of the region. With Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos all wanting to stay out of world issues it allowed the war to grow outside Alola. With Sinnoh in a massive economic depression that left a significant amount of folks around here unemployed. Guevara started to campaign here and most people blindly followed his cause to try and change their own fortunes around. With him gaining favor by the day in the region he eventually attacked Sinnoh from the inside and took it over in under 24 hours. It only got worse however, My Grandfather seemed keen on trying to quell this movement by any means necessary, yet results were poor. Without any nation allying Kanto at the time (Johto's senate voted against taking up arms against Guevara) efforts seemed futile. At first, with Kanto all alone the senate voted to go on a naval campaign at sea. Guevara managed to stall Kanto's first attacks at sea giving him the opportunity to focus on gaining land. With Kanto unwilling to commit to stopping him, Guevara, only grew stronger and after 2 months seized Kalos as well. Here's where Guevara got a little too cocky and bit off more than he could chew. He attacked Unova and Hoenn concurrently cutting his forces in half. Now, at the time Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Unova all declared war officially, and were fighting against him. So, surprisingly swiftly, Guevara was defeated and assassinated in a year ruining the previous three years of work. Then, the regions unified under the league. The unification isn't huge. Most of the power still lies in the region's government, but to prevent something like that happening again, and to strengthen the regions as a whole they created the league, where each region's chancellor acts as a representative on world issues.

In my humble opinion, the league is bull shitty it's so corrupt in a weird way. The focus of the leaders, including my grandfather, is wrong. We should be trying to fix the problems caused by Guevara first, then we can move onto how this whole league thing will work. For example, they're now debating on whether to create a world army like for real? I've been in Sinnoh for a week, and already I see the effect this recession has had on these people.

And, yet here I am, in this Cabin the size of a classroom with nothing but a radio buzzing the sounds of Christmas music cutting in and out (storm messed up the signal). I'm sitting in a nice soft brown chair, next to me is a table with police reports and files spread all over it. The entrance is in front of me not quite in the left corner as I'm more towards the right. Parallel to me is a mini kitchen with hot chocolate on the stove. That reminds me I'm in dire need of a refill. Behind me there is my bed and a door leading to a bathroom. Cozy.

I get up to pour myself another cup of hot chocolate. I hate cold weather and the holidays, but easily the greatest thing about this time of year is the delicious taste of hot chocolate. The downside however is the holiday season is horrible, and so chaotic. There's just too much going on I mean you got to get everyone a gift, wrap it, then you have to physically go to these events where your family can annoy the hell out of you. "Gary, why don't you ever bring a girl around" I don't know gramps because I don't want her to leave me. Now, about this topic of girls I would get a _serious_ relationship if I had time. I used to date around, but that's stupid it got me nowhere in life so why would I do it. This current job though it does consume my time because as I've matured this is what I do I work nonstop. I do have the holidays off however and I am flying into Kanto on the 22nd then flying back after new years so I at least do take the time off they give me.

I sit back down in my chair the wind whipping and whistling outside as the blizzard rages on. Taking a sip of hot chocolate I pick up the reports.

"Wow, a 7 year old boy died of poisoning and severe 4th degree burns. His one Pokemon, identified as a zubat was stolen at the scene of the crime." What a revolting crime. What posses a human being to kill such a young child with their whole life ahead them. How pathetic do you have to be to murder a child, honestly? Well, Gary Oak's on the case, so I guess it's up to me to solve this insanity. I pick up another report trying to get more work done. This one was a teen couple taking a walk both lived, but were robbed of everything. A substance identified as red paint was scattered all around. Again, these crimes make zero sense. I'm assuming they're linked, and if they aren't then it only complicates matters. To reiterate what is the purpose of all this? There appears to be a person, or group without any motive to target innocent lives all across Sinnoh like this. Murder was too extreme for a bunch of crooks. An interesting twist is the red paint that was there this time around. It's, so random. I don't know what's going on here, but I fear the worst. A war just ended I hope we go without a sequel. The radio suddenly caught my attention as the DJ came on.

" _Hey there Snowpoint, skksksks so, dress warm Ssskkk next we visit skkkssk here's Last Christmas by sksksks."_

Ah, it's my favorite Christmas song as it reminds me of the better days. Life changed, but back in the day good times were all around. I don't know why it's my favorite it's a pretty sad song now that I think about it, disguised as happy one. Maybe it's a metaphor for life for one to be perceived as happy, yet deep down inside they're miserable, and if you bothered to look carefully at that person you'd know. Well, shit, I'd say that got me all sad again. Might as well actually enjoy the song. I take a little sip of my hot chocolate trying to relax and listen to the music.

" _Last Christmskskks I gave you my sksksskssk the very next day you gave it away."_

I sat there in silence as I occasionally gaze at the clock on the wall. It's getting late as the clock read 11:45 p.m. It's been a long night and week. I'm not one to openly complain that was corrected what feels like forever ago. Time flies by with a blink of an eye ask Gramps he'll tell you.

Suddenly, I believe I hear a faint knock delicately tapping the wood on my door. Odd, there's a blizzard going on outside who could be knocking on my door especially at this hour. My mind must be playing tricks on me how improbable for an event like that to occur. I guess I should go to bed hallucinations aren't really a good sign. I stand up about to pack it up for the night when out of nowhere there's knocking again only this time, I'd classify it as banging loudly with a much more frantic pace. It was unmistakable someone or something was out there desperately trying to get in. Impossible. At this hour and that blizzard how could someone be here? I grab my belt with two poke balls and cautiously open the door. And out in the blistering cold is a girl, at least 20, shivering cold. She suddenly hugs my body in a tight embrace crying hysterically.

"What is going on?" I ask stunned. I actually mean stunned I mean I've seen a lot, but this is wild! She had long brown hair, striking brown eyes, and was too weak to stand. She wore a black coat, but there weren't any hat or gloves to be seen. She started to speak.

"They're after me. They're after me. They're after me." She repeated over and over. I felt my stomach drop. If they are the same people as the ones I'm after it only makes the situation more real. In an instant she stopped talking her knees buckled and she passed out in my arms. I'm assuming due to exhaustion or worse, trauma.

"Happy freaking holidays," I muttered again sarcasm oozing out of every word.

I set the girl down on my bed baffled by the situation.

I took her coat off and searched for some license or id without any luck. I feel bad for her I genuinely do. Nobody just comes a knocking on some random house without a good reason. This person was obviously provoked in some shape or form there's zero doubt in my mind about it. I also, feel conflicted, what do I do? It sounds selfish especially with someone in the same room struggling, but eventually she wakes up and then what? I guess in the morning I'll call Grandpa and see what he has to say, but in the meantime I'm in dire need of sleep.

I move away from the bed and turn everything off. Whatever will happen next? For that I'm sincerely uncertain, but I have a strange feeling it'll be important.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _(December 18th, Snowpoint City)_

 _-Everything has a purpose-_

I awoke quickly with a start feeling groggy. My head throbbing in pain felt like a great way to start the day. My memory deceives me at the moment why did I sleep in my chair last night? Minutes pass though, tossing, and turning hoping for some more precious minutes of rest, but my attempts were futile. Finally, I gave in and got up to start the day. A quick glance to the clock told me it was 9:00 am I must've overslept big time.. After a nice long yawn I turn around to look at my bed and see a person sleeping there.

"Oh shit," I say aloud remembering everything that happened last night. The reports, the radio, and the girl all come back as memories crashes back from the night before. You know I hope she's better honestly because frankly I need answers pronto. Is a storm brewing? For that I am uncertain. However, in this current situation questions persist and I desperately crave answers. I move over to my bed where the girl is currently resting. I look over her sleeping figure and see her facial features more clearly. The first thing that comes to mind is the color in her face. When she originally stumbled into my friendly abode her face was noticeably pale, now she seems to have a fairly regular hue. She had a cute button nose with a face unscathed of any marks or scars. I figured I should wait for her to wake up, so I went to the corner of the room and grabbed a wooden chair to plop down. I thought about some kind of breakfast, but I was out of my regular morning rations, eggs, and toast, so I guess I'll have to just wait till lunch for some food. Just sitting there the atmosphere settled down the room silencing into a whisper. The clock ran on and on tick tock tick tock making me feel uneasy. I sat up straight then leaned back again my fingers pounding the wood like a drum in the night. So, soft and tedious this process is, my mind searching for a temporary hobby. I sat straight again my hand resting under my chin contemplating my food situation. I should probably be keeping a closer eye on the weather, however I lack way of knowing the complete weather report unless I turn on the radio, but I wouldn't want to run the risk of my guest being awoken. Like a metronome the hands on the clock kept on pounding with predictability Increasing my knowledge of time while decreasing my sanity all at the same time. I laid back against the chair again unsure of the words to be spoken, yet the internal countdown makes me anxious. Questions to persist, yet answers are awaiting to reveal themselves driving me crazy. The clock keeps going on and on my position shifts nonstop for what feels like an eternity. Boredom Shakespearean in nature as life's greatest tragedy.

My head snaps. Suddenly, I am alerted to shifting in the bed as the mystery that has nagged me began to stir. Her eyes shot up like rockets with a concoction fear, confusion, and intrigue swirling around as the moment settled in. Her eyes eventually crept up to meet mine contact was built like the world's strongest bridge. With our eyes interlocked awkwardness slowly built with no one willing to say a word, yet language desperately needing to be spoken. I figured I must break the ice and try to quell the unwanted silence.

"Good morning," I interject with little emotion my face stoic like a rock. I've been through worse. Her head tilted her face scrunched trying to remember something. Could she have forgotten what happened merely hours ago? Perhaps, but my feelings seem confused and uneasy about that notion my mind however sees it as probable.

"H-Hi," she replied nervousness riddled through one word. Such detail could possibly be discovered in small amounts if you look I assume, but does it really matter right now? No.

"Do you remember anything from last night," I asked as her face went white and her eyes bulged looking down at my bed. Man I have such a way with words don't I aren't I so well spoken.

"I meant when you knocked on my door at midnight last night," I mean I had to say something to try to fix this it was only growing more awkward by the second. After I said that she kind of put her hand over her forehead and her face scrunched up she whispered to herself remember like a drum constantly in motion till finally she exasperatedly jumped out of her seat.

"Oh my God!" she shouted her breath slowing becoming more prominent. "You saved my life!"

This was an interesting tidbit for sure. I mean it's been a couple years since the last time I saved a life so you know cool stuff.

"Well, what do you mean by saved exactly what happened to you," I inquired. I mean I couldn't help but ask why she came to my quarters. She seemed uneasy you know like I may have just walked into some huge story just waiting to explode. Her movements stuck out to me. She first sat on her hands then swayed as she puffed her cheeks tapping her feet like rain coming down on a roof. The rhythms of precipitation such beauty.

"Well, you may know there's been gang popping up that has had an effect on the community lately with their hazings. Late last night I was leaving a restaurant alone and these two figures in all black start to approach me asking if I was looking for trouble. Sensing that this may not be the safest situation I turned around to start running, but 5 were closing in." She started with fear coursing throughout her language.

I guess it was my turn for my eyes to go wide. I mean it's one thing to read someone died, but to see the affected by these attacks make it more real. I can't help, but wonder is something fishy going on here. It is actually my job to find out so we will you can count on it. She continued.

"There was a ridge down the side of the mountain so that being my only outlet of escape I went down there and saw your house then all of a sudden I'm assuming I was hit with a confuse ray because I started getting dizzy and sick and barely made it." I got up making my towards to my pile of reports with a large red confidential across them.

"Without you I could've ended up.." I cut her off

"Like this," I showed her the picture of the dead boy that I was given by local authorities. At first she was noticeably startled by the scene then she turned her head as her eyes focused in darting between myself and the picture end with a single raised eyebrow.

"His name is Joseph Youngston, 7 years old, died two weeks ago," I started. You know her eyes are fairly hypnotic…

"Was he killed by that gang?" Her breathing became more noticeable with her focus like a laser on the topic.

"They were described as people wearing all black and in a pack, so it's a strong possibility it was," I responded.

She crossed her legs and leaned back a puzzled look came across her face before she leaned back with a giant smirk and one eyebrow cocked ready to strike I suppose.

"How do you even know this Mister…" She trailed off realizing she had no clue who I was ha! Wait, I have no idea what her name fatal miscalculation.

"Gary Oak's the name," I extended my arm out inviting a handshake.

"Leaf Green," she responded accepting my handshake. Her eyes locked into mine as I could tell there was a feeling out process running through her mind. The faint squint I could see it eyes screaming who are you? She got up to walk around eyes grazing my reports fingertips running through the words. She stopped abruptly and started speaking, but her back facing me.

"So, Mr. Oak," She started as I mentally cringed, yet my expression was unfazed.

"Please call me Gary I couldn't be much older than yourself," I dismissed the formalities, Mr Oak makes me sound like my Grandfather.

"Okay, Gary," emphasis landing on the Gary, "How do you know all this anyway. Your knowledge of these people is alarming." She shot back

I have to be careful if I allow myself to reveal too much too soon. She seems harmless yes, but to what degree. Her motives are unclear and we've just met. Definitely time to keep most of my identity a secret.

"I'm just a foreign investigator sent to check this whole thing out,"

"Interesting. Well, why don't I help you out for causing you this much trouble." She offered genuinely.

I can't say I'm not intrigued by her offer. The moment I set up base camp here suddenly this storm comes rolling in to mess up my plans. Despite an unnecessary nuisance as that is in the bigger picture it hasn't allowed me to do anything except dwell on the reports I was given before my flight from Olivine City. Our eyes interlocked again and she wore a smirk. Maybe it was written on my face. Maybe she could read minds. Whatever the case may be she definitely read me like a book. Damn she was good.

"What are you proposing Miss Green?"

"Please," she started smirk unwavering "Call me Leaf."

"So, Leaf, what do you got in mind?"

"Well, I think it's obvious. If they attacked me once they'll do it again and if we have a trap set for them then all we have to do is kidnap one guy and then interrogate him."

I roll my eyes. Not only is this highly unethical for me to do, but I also don't have authorization to kidnap or engage them. But you may come to find out I don't like to play by the rules and this little plan right here, although risky, is pretty good. I stand up and walk away. I assume she looked at me incredulously and swore I heard her say something along the lines of what are you doing, but I was too focused to clearly hear it. I now look straight at the radio turning it on. Luck was on my side as immediately the weather report started.

 _Good morning snowpoint city I am Jimmy Harvey and here is you're weather report. Everyone should be happy to note today at 1:30 in the afternoon marks the end of this horrible snowstorm. Select Businesses will open at 2:00. The high for today is 21 degrees Fahrenheit and the low is 11. Currently, it is 15 degrees with snowfall. Yet, later tonight there will be light snowfall from 7 pm to 10. I'm Jimmy Harvey and this is your morning weather report._

"Well, Leaf, today we'll eat, go get groceries, then finally catch ourselves some bad guys"

After saying this I was met with a bright smile that could melt the snow away.


End file.
